Sporting safety helmet



March 24, 1970 H. wyc o 3,501,772

SPORTING SAFETY HELMET Filed May 8, 1968 INVENTOR. M0241 JJ. WYCKOFF' redw 8 31mm? United States Patent Ofiice Patented Mar. 24, 1970 3,501,772SPORTING SAFETY HELMET Marlin H. Wyckotf, Redondo Beach, Calif.,assignor to Sierra Engineering Co., Sierra Madre, Calif., 21 corporationof California Filed May 8, 1968, Ser. No. 727,521 Int. Cl. A42f 3/00,3/02 US. Cl. 2-3 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A helmet comprisinga shell having front,-crown, rear and depending side lobe sections. Aliner is mounted within the shell with the liner having an inner contouradapted for encompassing the upper head area of the wearer, and an outercontour adapted for contacting the inner surfaces of the shell. Thefront section of the shell protrudes a distance in front of the innersurface of the front portion of the liner so that the front of theshellextends past the vertical plane of the face area of the wearer. Therear portion of the shell extends a substantial distance behind theinner surface of the rear portion of the liner so as to give additionalprotection to the rear area of the head of the wearer. The shell furtherincludes a structural strengthening rib or bead formed around thecircumference of the base of the crown section, and air foilindentations formed at the unions of the upper portion of the side lobesand the front section of the shell.

This invention relates generally to protective head gear andparticularly to improved sporting helmets designed to reduce head andfacial injuries which are most likely to result from motoring andcycling type accidents.

Heretofore, sporting helmets have been designed with little or noconsideration given to the probability that unequal forces are likely tobe encountered on different sections of the helmet; and therefore priorhelmets have been constructed with more or less a uniform distributionof lining material throughout the helmet. Also prior helmets have notincluded provisions in the design thereof for protecting other areas ofthe head not in contact with the helmet.

It is a general object and purpose of the invention to provide animproved helmet of the character described which avoids the above notedand other discrepancies of the existing helmets of this type.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel andimproved helmet which affords additional protection to those areas ofthe head most likely to encounter the highest impact forces.

Another object is to provide an improved and eflicient sporting helmetwhich provides additional protection to those head and facial areas notencompassed by the helmet.

A further object is to provide a sporting helmet having a novel shellstructure which exhibits improved structural rigidity.

A still further object is to provide an improved helmet with a uniquedesign that affords varying degrees of protection to the several areasof the head according to the magnitude of forces most likely to beencountered by each of the areas, and which provides additional facialprotection to the wearer.

Other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will becomereadily apparent as the description proceeds.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of theinvention, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafterset forth, pointed out in the appended claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view depicting the relative distribution ofcritical and fatal head injuries among the several sections of the head.

FIGURE 2 is a profile view of a person wearing a helmet according to theprinciples of the subject invention.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section through a helmet in accordance with theinvention.

FIGURE 4 is a front view of a shell of the helmet according to theinvention.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged section taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 2.

Briefly, the subject invention comprises a helmet having a shell with adual layer energy absorbing and distributing liner mounted therein. Theliner has an inner contour adapted for encompassing the upper head areaof the wearer so that the front section of the shell protrudes outwardlyabove the level of the eyes of the wearer. The relative shape of thehelmet and the liner are such that the front section of the shellextends beyond the vertical plane of the face of the wearer; and therear section of the shell extends a substantial distance beyond the reararea of the head. These protuberances at the front and rear sections ofthe shell allow for the placement of additional liner material at theselocations where the greatest impact forces resulting from sportingaccidents are likely to occur. Also the frontal protrusion of the shellprovides added facial protection against headon type impacts. The helmetfurther includes a structural strengthening head or rib around thecircumference of the base of the crown section of the shell so as toprevent flexing of the shell from lateral blows; and air foil indentations are formed in each side of the front section of the shell toreduce wind loading.

The subject invention may be better understood by first referring toFIGURE 1 which shows the relative distribution of critical and fatalhead injuries according to a recent study of motoring and cyclingaccidents. The finding of the study indicates that the vast majority ofserious injuries were confined to the forehead and facial areas of thehead, 45 and 41% respectively; with 10% of the injuries occurring in thelower area at the rear of the head. The unique design of the helmet, inaccordance with the subject invention, takes into account thenon-uniform distribution of impact forces, as indicated by the justdescribed injury study, so as to provide an improved helmet of increasedprotective capability.

A helmet in accordance with the principles of the subject invention,indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, comprises a relativelyhard outer shell 12 which may be formed of any suitable material such asplastic, fiberglass, or metal. The shell 12 has an upper section orcrown 14 of a generally elongated conical configuration, a front section16, a rear section 18, and depending side lobes 20.

Mounted within the shell 12 is a liner 22 which may be composed of twolayers of energy absorbing and distributing material. The outer layer 24may consist of any suitable semi-resilient material, which has energyabsorbing characteristics, such as semi-resilient urethane foam, forexample. The inner liner 25 may be formed from any suitable resilientmaterial, which has energy distributing characteristics, such asresilient urethane foam, for example. The inner contour 26 of the liner22 is adapted to encompass the head of the wearer above the eyebrows andears. A head band 28 which may be made from a durable fiber such asnylon, for example, may be secured to the inner contour 26 of the liner22 by means of any conventional adhesive. A padded neck cushion 30includes a resilient material 32, such as foam rubber, which is securedbetween vinyl liners 34 and 36, respectively. The

upper portion, of the inner vinyl liner 34 and the outer vinyl liner 36,may be fastened to the perimeter of the lower surface 38 of the layer25. The upper portion of the neck cushion 30 has an air passage 40formed therein, which passage is in communication with openings 42 oneach of the front sides of the neck cushion 30. A plurality of ports 44are formed in the inner liner 36 to provide ventilation to the rear areaof the helmet. The inner and outer liners 34 and 36, respectively,extend through the area adjacent to the side lobes 20 and terminate asstraps 48', which straps may be utilized in conjunction withcOnventional fastening means (not shown) to secure the helmet to thehead of the wearer.

One of the more important aspects of the subject invention is therelationship between the shape of the shell 12 and the liner 22. Asshown best in FIGURES 2 and 3, the front inner contour of the liner 22is adapted for encompassing the head of the wearer above the eyebrows.The liner 22 and the shell 12 are so shaped that the shell protrudes adistance a in front of the forehead of the wearer; where the distance ais such that the front of the shell extends beyond the vertical plane 49of the face area of the wearer, such as 2 /2 inches, for example. Theimportance of the protuberance in the frontal portion of the shell 12 istwo fold. Firstly, the additional frontal area of the shell allows for agreater volume of liner material to be utilized in this critical area ofthe highest probability of injury (see FIGURE 1). Secondly, thisprotuberance f the shell above the eyebrows greatly reduce the risk offacial injuries due to impact with relatively uniform surfaces such asvehicular surfaces, street surfaces, and the like. Another importantaspect of the subject invention is that the rear section 18 of the shell12 protrudes a distance b behind the rear portion of the inner contourof the liner 22, where b may be 1 inches, for example. This protuberanceof the rear section 18 gives added protection to the rear area of thehead of the user by providing additional lining material in this area.Also the just described feature allows the impact surface of the rearsection 18 of the helmet 10 to be further removed from the lower reararea of the head, where a significant number of serious injuries arelikely to occur (see FIGURE 1).

A strengthening bead or rib 48 is formed around the circumference of theshell 12 at the base of the crown 14. As shown best in FIGURES 2, 3 and5 this strengthening bead 48 is formed by the downward and inwardinclination of the lower portions of the front 16, rear 18 and sidelobes 20 sections, at the base of the crown 14. The bead or rib 48 givesadditional structural rigidity to the helmet by reducing the likelihoodof the shell 12 flexing due to lateral forces.

At the union between the front 16 and side lobes 20 sections at the baseof the crown 14, the surface of the side lobes 20 follow a graduallyconcavely curving pattern so as to form air foil indentations 50. Thisair foil feature completes the streamlining configuration of the shell12, the overall effect of wh ch is to reduce wind loading of the helmetduring such activities as cycling, for example.

It is now apparent that the invention herein described and illustratedis fully capable of attaining the several objects and advantagespreliminarily set forth.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new in support ofLetters Patent is:

1. A helmet comprising:

a shell having front, crown, rear and side lobe sections; a linermounted within said shel1,"said liner having an inner contour adaptedfor encompassing the upper head area of a wearer, and an outer contourconforming to and in contact with the inner surfaces of said shell, saidliner substantially filling the space between said inner contour andsaid shell;

4 and with said front portion of said shell protruding a distance infront of the inner surface of the front portion of said liner so thatsaid front section of said shell extends past the vertical plane of theface area of the wearer whereby a greater thickness of liner material isdisposed at the front area of said helmet than at the crown area.

2. A helmet according to claim 1 with the surfaces of said front, rearand side lobe sections of said shell being inwardly and downwardlyinclined with respect to the adjacent surfaces of said crown section, soas to define a rib at the juncture of the adjacent surfaces of the crownsection with the surfaces of the front, rear and side lobe sectionsaround the circumference of the shell, thereby increasing the lateralstructural rigidity of the shell.

3. A helmet as in claim 1 wherein said liner includes an outer layer ofsemi-resilient type material and an inner liner of resilient typematerial.

4. A helmet as in claim 1 wherein said front section 'of said shellprotrudes forwardly, above the level of the eyebrows of the wearer, atleast 2% inches in front of the inner surface of the front portion ofthe liner.

5. A helmet as in claim 1 wherein said rear portion of said shell isadapted for extending downwardly adjacent to the back of the upperportion of the neck of the wearer and said rear portion of the shellprotrudes at least 1 /2 inches behind the inner surface of the rearportion of said liner.

6. A helmet comprising:

a shell having front, crown, rear and side lobe sections; a linermounted within said shell, said liner having an inner contour adaptedfor encompassing the upper head area of a wearer, and an outer contourconforming to and in contact with the inner surfaces of said shell, saidliner substantially filling the space between said inner contour andsaid shell; and with said front portion of said shell protruding adistance in front of the inner surface of the front portion of saidliner so that said front section of said shell extends past the verticalplane of the face area of the wearer whereby a greater thickness linermaterial is disposed at the front area of said helmet than at the crownarea; and a lower inner liner extending below the lower edge of the rearportion of said shell, said inner liner having a padded neck cushion,and ventilation means for circulating air to the rear inner area of thehelmet. 7. An outer shell for a protective helmet, said shellcomprising:

front, crown, rear and side lobe sections with the surfaces of saidfront, rear and side lobe sections being concavely inwardly anddownwardly inclined with respect to the base of the crown section so asto define a bead around the circumference of the base of the crownsection, thereby increasing the structural rigidity of the shell, andthe upper front section of each side lobe having concave inwardlyinclined surfaces at the union thereof with the front section of theshell so as to form air foil indentations, thereby decreasing windloading of the shell.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 682,455 9/ 1901 Cooper 2--52,140,716 1.2/ 1938 Pryale 2-3 2,688,747 9/ 1954 Marx 2--6 3,183,5225/1965 Groot 2--6 3,341,201 9/1967 Ryan 29 XR 3,344,433 10/1967Stapenhill 2-3 JAMES R. BOLER, Primary Examiner

